Vending machine



J. F. KR'CMA VENDING MACIINE Filed Feb. l, 1926 May 7, 1929.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 `tf02jbn F. frcma.

` May 7, 1929.- J, F, KRCMA 1,711,685

VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb, l, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L x/Eju IfohrLF-Krcma,

May 7, 1929. l J. F. KRCMA VENDNG MACHINE Filed Feb, l 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented May 7, 1929.

entre!) STATES JOHN F. KRGMA, oF-WILIVIETTE, ILLINOIS.

VENDING Application filed February This invention relates to vending machines and more L ieularly to a vending machine wherein sugar coated balls of gum or round inches. are'adapted to be automatically discl ged one at a time, each time a coin is delivered into the machine to 'co-act with a plunger to cause a shiftalole carriage to move one of the articles into a position to permit the article to drop by gravity into a discharge chute for delivery to the person operating the n'iachine. Y

lt is an object of this invention to provide gum vending Inacl'line wherein a coin is adapted to be shot into a housing to permit the coin to drop through a hopper to co-act with a plan to cause operation of va slidalole adapted to move single piece of the gum into a position from which the piece of gum may drop by gravity into a gravity chutev to be delivered to aperson.operating the machine. v

.it is also an object ofA this .invention to provi'le a vending` machine wherein a coin acts with a plunge' mechanism to cause operation of a Igum control device, which, when operated, is adapted to deliver a single piece of gum into a position permitting the gum to be discharged by gravity into a position readily aca to the person operating` the machine. lt au important object of this invention lovine a simplified gravity acting article machine wherein a. gun is provided for shooting a coin into the machine for the pinpose of hitting a target and furthermore allowing the coin to drop by gravity into a pre-determined position, 'rermitting a plunger when actuated, to cause operation of a slidt ed mechanism which. serves to permit a 1 article in the machine to be moved into in permitting said article to drop by ,ity into a gravity acting delivery chute. @ther and further important objects of this in ntion will be apparent from the disclosures in the specification and the accompanyina' drawings.

This invention in a preferred form) is illustrated in the draiving:J and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:`

Ficrre l is a longitudinal section through a achine embodying.;` the principles of ition and showing parts of the mechsn'i in elevation. I Figure 9, is an enlargm op plan view of the nl feed mechanism which, when operated,

MACHINE.

1, 1926. serial No. 85,077.

vending machine with the upper portion of the housing 'and the coin feed hopper omitted.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail horizontal section taken on line III-III of 'Figure l, showing the operation in dotted lines.

Figure a is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken longitudinally of the machine on line IV-IV of Figure 2.

Figure is an enlarged fragme'ntaryl transverse vertical section taken on line V-V of Figure 2 with parts omitted.

Figure 6, is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional-view taken on line VI-Vl of Figure 3. Y ir y Figure 7 is a similar sectional View with the movable parts advanced to cause discharge of an article.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section taken on line VIH-VIII of Figure 3, illustrating an article in dotted lines ready to y be discharged.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary detail section taken on line X-IX of Figure 5, andv illustra-ting a coin seated in position to facilitate dispensing 'of an article.

Figure l() is an enlarged fragmentary plan view 'taken on line X-WX of Figure 5.

As shown on the drawings:

T he reference numeral l indicates a table or support having n'lo'unted thereon a casing or housing 2, having a target 3 mounted within the casing von the upper portion of the inner surface of the rear Wall of the housing. Mounted in the upper portion of the front wall of the housing is a ball socket l which supports a coin Vgun 5, thevnozzle of Which projects into the housing. T hey front vWall of the housing is preferably made of glass s'o that when a coin is dropped into the gun, the person desiring a piece of gum or other article to be v'ended, may endeavor to properly aim the gun at the target 3, after which the gun trigger is pulled to fire the coin into the housing'. The coin shot into the housing' 2 may or may not hit the target 3. The coin, thus delivered into the housing, is permitted to drop into a coin feed hopper 7, Which is 4mounted within the upper portion of the housing. The walls of the hopper 7 taper downwardly and converge to connect With the upper open end of a coin chute or guide 8, whichserves to permit the deliveredy coin to drop by gravity downwardly through the lower open end of said coin chute to sit in an CTI inclined position in a notch 9 et a linger or coin seat projection l0, which integrally formed on one side oi' a slightly inclined guide trough or channel 11 which is open at both ends.

Mounted Within the housing 2 below the coin feed hopper 7 and belon7 the coin toed chute 8, is a dished or concave partitien l2, having` a longitudinal slot or passage 13 therein to allord an outlet for balls ol guni or candy 14, a supply of Which is carried Within the housing upon said partition l2 as clearly illustrated in Figure l. The partition l2 is (lished or concave as illustrated and describe'L to permit the balls of gum lll to roll by grav ity into the discharge slotrll. il portion of the concave partition 12 is slightly raised or arched as at l5, to allord suliicient space to permit a ball ot gun'i to be discharged Ylroin the guide trough ll into an extension arni i6, which is provided with an apertured ilange 17 to permit 'the same to be rigidly secured to the under lace of the partition l2 be the end oi the arched portion l59 ciel l, illustrated in Figure Screws 185 or otherl suitable mea Ae, may be used ilfor securing the liange i7 to the partition l2. 'lhe extensii'in 16 is provided with an lshapod runway or passage l2), slimvn in Figure The extension i6 is i'orined on one side ot the upper or inner portion ot a gravity discharge chute 2l) having an outlet opening or aperture 2l in one side oit the inner end portion thereo'l 'lhe discharge chute 20 is inclined downwardly and has the lower end thereof projecting outwardly through an opening in the lower pertion ot the front Wall et the housing 2 into a position readily accessible to a person operating the machine. lhe lower projectingl end oiE the chute 20 is cut away to altord a cup or pocket into which a discharged ball el? gum is adapted'to roll to pei-init the saine tobe removed by the person operating the niachine.

Slidably mounted in the long arm of the L- shaped slot 19 of the chute extension is an inverted U-shaped gum shifting forli 23, which is integrally termed on one end f an arm 24; Which projects through a slot in one side ot the trough ll. The inner end oi4 the arm 24- is integrally formed on one side ci" aslidable carriage 25, disposed 'Within said trough 1l. One end o'l' the carriage 25 pro-A vided With a pocket 26, which is open at its bottom portion. The end ot the carriage containing the pocket 2G is provided with a curved yoke or bight portion 27. lntegrally formed transversely across the top ol one end of the carriage 25 is a stop rib or projection` i3 adapted to limit the movement oia the carA riage in one direction. guide shoe or transverse Web 28 is integrally formed on the bottoni of the carriage 25 to afford a guide therel'or Within the 'trough 1l. Aliso integrally formed on one side of the carriage 25 is a projecting` linger or coin stop 29, against which a coin deposited in the notched arm 10 is adapted to be pushed by the inner end or' a plunger rod 30, which is slidably mounted in suitable guides 3l on the under tace ofthepartition l2. Co"ed around the lplunger rod 30 is a coiled spring 32, the outer end ot which is secured to 'the plunger rod by any suitable means, Wlin the inner end ot said spring is connected with. the inner guide nieinber'll thro ugh which the plunger rod passes. The spring 'thus acts to hold the plunger' rod 3 0 in a resilient projected position out through a suitable opening in the iront Wall el the housing 2, into a suitable position to be readily ei'igaged 'by a person desiring to operate the machine.

is clearly/'shown in liligures 3 and l, a closure plate is integrally formed on the end oi the carriage arin 2e beyond the gum feed forli 'lfhis plate 33 is adapted to act a shutter to close oli the short arm ol. the l..- shaped passage l5) when the carriage 25 is ope-raied to cause the tori; to nieve a ball-oi' guai through the long arm oit the l--shaped passage inte a position adjacent the outlet Iepening 2l in the inner end of the discharge chute 20. [ilse integrally formed on the cari: je alan 2e is an upwardly projecting guide est del, which projects upwardly iroufgh ,lot in the partition plate 12 into 1e chamber containin the balls et gum lil.

l'lflicn a coin is dropped into the machine il e coin seat projection l0, the plunger rod 30 is adapted to be operated to co-act with said id nieve the sain-e against the coin stop thereby causing said carriage 25 to be bly moved inwardly a distance equal to the diameter el: the coin in order that a downwardly projecting linger or pin 35, termed on the bottom ot a carriage proj ecting plate 3GL may be moved into a position permitting a. hook ineinber 5'? to be automatically engaged with said pin to aliord a. means Vtor carrying or moving the carriage to the extreme limit of its movement. rlhe hook member 87 integrally 'termed on the end et the long arm olf a bell crank 38, which pivotally mounted on the bottom of a plate 39 which is integrally formed on the inner end of the plunger rod 30. The plate 39 is provided with a longitudinal slot l0 through which a guide screw or pin ll projects to limit the sliding movement of the plunger rod and said slotted plate Connected to the end of the short arm oit the bell crank 38 is one end ot a coil. spring 4t2i the other end of which is connected to a lua' Which is integrally formed on the slotted plate The spring l2 act-s to automatically swing the hooked endBT of the bell crank 38, inwardly behind the pin 35 ot' the carriage atter said carriage has been advanced a predetermined amount by means of the plunger rod and the coin. The coin alter nd tails through the heppersf! and 8 upon I i being advanced a vpredetermined distance is discharged and the bell crankthen acts as a means for continuing the advance of the car# riage 25'into its eXtreme position. It will thus be seen that before the carriage 25 can be moved inwardly to deliver a bail of gum into discharge position in front of the opening 21 of the discharge chute 20, it is necessary that a coin be deposited in the machine so that the plunger, when actuated, will cause a preliminary advance of said carriage to move the pin 35 into a position wherein it is automatically adapted. to be engaged by the hook end of the spring controlled bell'cranh 38, which then acts to carry the carriage 25 to the extreme limit of its movement so that abali of gum in the fork 23 will be properly positioned in front of the discharge aperture 21 of the chute 20.

yihe improved vending machine is substantially a gravity feed device and is adapted to be operated by means of a one cent coin ,which adapted to be inserted into the gun by a person. Vlhe person may aim the gun at the argot 3 before firing, with the idea of trying to hit saitl target 3 with the coin when the gun trigger G is jniiled. rlhis part of the operationis merely a chance feature to interest the pubiic. A coin discharged from the gun 5, whether it hits the target 3 or not, is adapted to drop by gravity into the guide hopper 7, which is so constructed that the coin will slide into the coin chute 8 for delivery upon the notched coin seat 10, as'indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5. in this position the coin is engaged in an inclined plane vdirectly in the path of movement of the inner end of the nger rod 30. rlChe person depositing the may now push the plunger rod 30 in- "dl against the action ofthe control spring 32, thereby causing 'the coin to engage against the carriage projection 29 to slide the carriage inwardly a distance corresponding to the diameter of the coin. he balls of gum or candy ist within the housing 2 are adapted to roll downwardly by gravity in the concave partition12 so that there is always a ball of gum in the pocket 26 of said carriage 25. The advanced ball of gum, which first enters the pocket 26, rolls beneath the arched portion 15 of the partition plate 12 and then enters the short arm of the l.shaped passage 19, and finally enters the forli 23.' Furtheradvance of the `first 1all of gum is stopped by its'contact with the closed side of the discharge chute 20. lilith the advance ofthe carriage 25 by operation of the plunger co-acting on the deposited coin, the arm 2&1F is advanced with the carriage 25, thereby causing the fork 23 to advance the ball-of YQ'um throuffh the long arm of the l shaped slot 19, and at the saine tune causing 'the shutter or closure plate 33 to be advanced across the short arm of said Leihaped. arm 19 to prevent the advance of trie engagement with the pin 35, thus affor ing a positive means for continuing the advance of the carriage 25 into its eXtreme position in which the stop lug or rib 43 engages one end of the partition plate slot 13. lVhen the car# riage has been advanced into its extreme position just described, the fork 23 is brought into A register with the discharge opening 21 in the inner end portion of the chute 20, thereby permitting the advanced ball of gumV to' roll by gravity through said opening 21 into the upper inner end of the inclined discharge chute 20. The ball of gum is thus permitted t0 roll downwardly by gravity through the chute into the socket or pocket 22, formed in the outer end of said chute and to the outside of said housing 2 into an exposed position ready to be removed by the person who deposited the coin in the machine. be repeated asoften as required each time a coin is deposited into the machine and is delivered into a position tol co-act with the plunger rod 30, which is, of course, adapted toV be operated by the person desiring to obtain an article from the machine. After the plunger has been operated and the fork23 has delivered a ball of gum into a discharge position, the control spring 32 acts automatically to return the plunger 30, when released, to its outer 'normal position with the plunger rod extension plate 39, engaging the carriage projection or linger causing the carriage to be returned to its normal position with the fori; 23 positioned across the short arm of the L-shaped passage 19, ready to receive the next ball of gum.

l am raware that many changes maybe made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and l therefore do not j )urpose liiniting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated byv the prior art. i

I claim as my invention:

1. A coin-controlled vending machine comprising a housing, a slotted partit-ion plate in said housing adapted to supporta plurality of balls of gum which are to be vended, an article feed carriage slidable on said partition for receiving and guiding said balls of gum, an inclined discharge chute in said housing and projecting therefrom, a control arm on said carriage adapted to receive a single ball of gum from said carriage, and a spring con-r 'trolled mechanism in said housing adapted to be operated to cause slidable movement of The operation may Y said carriage to move said arm into a position wherein a ball of gum carried thereby is discharged into said discharge chute for delivery from the machine.

2. A coin controlled vending machine comprising a housing, a slotted partition in said housing adapted to support a quantity of ball shaped articles which are to be vended, a guide trough formed beneath said partition, a carriage slidable in said trough, means for limiting the movement of said carriage, an article discharge chute in said housing and projecting therefrom, said article discharge chute having an article discharge opening therein, an extension connected with said article discharge chute having a passage therein communicating iv ith said carriage, an arm on said carriage and projecting into said passage, an article feed fork formed on said arm to receive one of the articles from said carriage and hold said article in a position againsta closed portion of the side of the said discharge chute, a spring control plate in said housing, means for operating the same to cause said carriage to be moved a predetermined distance in said jiassage, and a spring control bell crank mechanism carried by said plate adapted to co-act with said carriage to continue the advancement thereof ii'it-o its extreme position wherein said foi-l; moves the article into a position to register with the opening in said discharge chute to permit the article to roll by gravity from the machine.

3. A Vending machine comprising a housing, a slotted partition mounted therein adapted to support a plurality of ball shaped articles to be dispensed, a guide member formed on said partition, an article discharge chute within said housing and projecting therefrom, said discharge chute having an opening near the inner end thereof, a slidable carriage Within said guide member adapted to receive the ball shaped articles in rotation by gravity, a fork member formed on said carriage adapted to receive one of said articles at a time, and a spring controlled member in said housing and projecting therefrom adapted to cause the carriage to be advanced to cause the fork member to move one of said ball shaped articles into a position to register with the opening in said article discharge chute to permit the article to roll through said discharge chute into a position readily accessible bythe person operating the machine.

4. In a vending machine, the combination with a support adapted to carry a plurality of ball shaped articles to be dispensed, a slidable carriage supported on said support and adapted to receive the ball shaped articles therefrom, an apertured discharge chute sup ported beneath said support, a fort: formed on said slidable carriage adapted to receive the foremost ball shaped articles from said car riage, a spring controlled mechanism adapted nviness to advance the slidable carriage a predetermined distance to cause the fork to advance one of the articles contained therein a predetermined distance, and spring controlled means carried by said mechanism adapted to co-act with said slidable carriage after the same has been advanced a predetermined distance to cause the continued advance of said carriage and said fork until the fork is brought to register With the opening in said discharge chute to permit the art-lele to roll by gravity into and through said chute into'a discharge position.

5. ln a vending machine, the combination With a slotted support adapted to hold a plurality of ball shaped articles to be dispensed, of a carriage slidably mounted on said Support adapted to receive the ball shaped articles in rotation, a projection on said carriage, a forli on said carriage adapted to receive one of said ball shaped articles at a time, a discharge chute beneath said support having an opening in one end thereof, a spring controlled mechanism beneath said support adapted to be operated to cause the carriage projection to advance said carriage and move said fork into register with said discharge chiite opening to pe mit the ball shaped member in said fork to be discharged by gravity into said discharge chute, and a closure plate formed on said fork adapted to prevent advance of the remaining ball shaped members on said support when the foremost ball shaped member is being advanced into a discharge position by said fork.

6. A vending machine comp qising a housing, a concave slotted support therein adapted to carry a plurality of ball shaped articles to be dispensed, an apertured discharge chute beneath said support, a slidable carriage mounted beneath said support and adapted to receive the ball shaped articles therefrom, an extension on said slidable carriage adapted to receive one of said ball shaped articles at a time, and slidable means adapted to be operated to cause slidable movement of said carriage to cause the carriage extension to advance one of the ball shaj ed articles into a position to be discharged by gravity through said chut-e.

7. A vending machine comprising a housing, a slotted concave support therein adapted to carry a plurality of ball shaped articles to be dispensed, a discharge chute in said housing beneath said support, an extension on said chute'connected With said article support and having a passage therein, a carriage slidably mounted on said support, 'a fork xtension on said carriage adapted to slide in said )assao'e a closure )late formed on said fork extension, a projection on said carriage, and a spring controlled member adapted to engage said carriage projection to cause slidable movementof said carriage and the forli*` extension thereof, whereby said llO fork extension is adapted to advance one of the ball shaped articles into a discharge position for delivery by gravity from said chute, while the closure plate is adapted to be advanced into said passage to hold the remaining articles against advance.

8. A vending machine comprising a housing, an article support in said housing' adapted to cari' Y a aluralitv of ball sha ed articles to be dispensed, a carriage slidably mounted on said support adapted to receive the ball shaped. articles by gravity from said support, an arm on said carriage, an article discharge chute having` an opening near one end thereoi, means on said arm for receiving one of the ball shaped articles at a time from said carriage, a spring controlled member adapted to be operated to engage against the carriage projection to slide said carriage a predetermined distance, and a spring controlled mechanism carried by said member adapted to automatically co-act vvith the carriage to continue the advance thereof to cause said means to move one of the ball shaped articles into a position to register With the opening of said discharge chute to permit said article to be delivered by gravity from the machine 9. In a vending machine, the combination with a concave slotted support adapted to carry a plurality of articles to be dispensed, of a carriage slidably mounted on said sup port, an arm on said carriage adapted to receive one of the articles from said support, a

discharge chute having an opening near the inner endvthereof, means adapted to be operated to cause the carriage to slide a predetermined distance, and a spring controlled mechanism adapted to co-act with the carriage after it has advanced a predetermined distance to cause the continued movement of said carriage until the arm Vdelivers one of the articles into the opening oit said discharge chute to permit said article to be dispensed by gravity from the machine.

1.0. In an article vending machine of the class described, the combination With a slotted concave partition adapted to carry a plurality of articles to be dispensed, a carriage slidably mounted below said support, an article discharge chute mounted adjacent said carriage andl having a discharge opening near one end thereof, a projection on said car riage, a forked member Jformed on said car-' riage adapted to receive one of said articles ata time, and a spring controlled slidable member adapted, when actuated, to act against the carriage projection to advance the carriage and cause the forked member thereof to advance one oi' said articles into a position to register vvith the opening in said chute to permit said articleto be discharged by gravity. Y e

In testimony Whereoi I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN F. KRCMA. 

